Youth Spotlight: Teen didn’t want ‘wimpy’ Scout project

Published: Sunday, July 21, 2013 at 06:05 PM.

NICEVILLE — Spencer Mailes is not one to take the easy way out of anything.

That’s why he chose to put on a 4K run for his Eagle Scout project to raise money and diapers for the Emerald Coast Children's Advocacy Center.

“I did it because I thought it was a different idea for an Eagle Scout project,” the 18-year-old Niceville High School graduate said. “I wanted to see what it took to organize a run. I didn’t want to do a wimpy Eagle Scout project.”

What it took, Mailes said, was three months planning and a lot of paperwork.

In the end, he said he had 100 runners participate in his Diaper Dash 4K Fun Run, and he collected enough diapers to fill his car.

“It was a lot more complicated than I thought it would be, but it went really smoothly,” he said.

Mailes plans to spend the next two years in Japan on a religious mission for the Niceville Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Once his mission is complete, he will head to Brigham Young University to study biochemistry and Chinese. Mailes said he hopes to work in a field where he can travel the world.

“I was an Air Force brat, so I really want the opportunity to live with my family in other countries and move around a lot,” he said. “It also would be cool if I could be an ambassador.”

NICEVILLE — Spencer Mailes is not one to take the easy way out of anything.

That’s why he chose to put on a 4K run for his Eagle Scout project to raise money and diapers for the Emerald Coast Children's Advocacy Center.

“I did it because I thought it was a different idea for an Eagle Scout project,” the 18-year-old Niceville High School graduate said. “I wanted to see what it took to organize a run. I didn’t want to do a wimpy Eagle Scout project.”

What it took, Mailes said, was three months planning and a lot of paperwork.

In the end, he said he had 100 runners participate in his Diaper Dash 4K Fun Run, and he collected enough diapers to fill his car.

“It was a lot more complicated than I thought it would be, but it went really smoothly,” he said.

Mailes plans to spend the next two years in Japan on a religious mission for the Niceville Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Once his mission is complete, he will head to Brigham Young University to study biochemistry and Chinese. Mailes said he hopes to work in a field where he can travel the world.

“I was an Air Force brat, so I really want the opportunity to live with my family in other countries and move around a lot,” he said. “It also would be cool if I could be an ambassador.”